Josef Strzygowski and the Berlin Museums

With the aim of creating a high-quality collection of artworks from late antiquity and Byzantium prior to the opening of the Kaiser-Friedrich Museum in 1904, Wilhelm von Bode turned to an expert in Byzantine art: Josef Strzygowski. The art historian,who worked as a lecturer in Graz, helped to expand this section of the collection from less than 100 to about 2000objects.The Ägyptisches Museum and the Islamic Department also profited from his work.

This one-room exhibition highlights Strzygowski's significant role in defining the course for the Museum für Byzantinische Kunstand presents his difficult personality from a biographical perspective. Whilst he was a pioneer in many areas of Byzantine art history,he became increasingly absorbed in ethnic and racial notions in his later years. On exhibit will be biographical documents, contemporary sources on his work for the Berlin Museums and objects that were acquired on account of his efforts.